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In the US, 60% of firearm deaths are from suicide. There are, on the other hand, ~430 accidental firearm deaths per year. Not saying reducing accidental deaths

In the US, 60% of firearm deaths are from suicide. There are, on the other hand, ~430 accidental firearm deaths per year. Not saying reducing accidental deaths isn't a good thing, but in terms of efficacy, the dollar spent per reduced death, I feel like there might be better ways other than a buyback program.

core-utility 4y ago
For anyone curious, 40% of 45,222 is 18,089
kube-system 4y ago
Mental health treatment is of course the best way to prevent suicides, but when people are in a suicidal mental state, they're a lot better off if they don't have grandpa's heirloom shotgun lying around.
wyldfire 4y ago
> In the US, 60% of firearm deaths are from suicide. How many suicide deaths would happen with fewer firearms available? I suspect a large portion of the suicide victims may not even be the owner/purchaser of the firearm used. Among all the methods, suicide by firearm is awful because it's so effective. Without an available firearm, attempting suicide by another method might be something that could be recoverable with some intervention after the attempt. Seems like a buyback could reduce the opportunity for deaths and injuries due to suicide attempts.
- agensaequivocum 4y ago
  South Korea has a much higher suicide rate and virtually no firearms.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - ihattendorf 4y ago
    That's irrelevant. How do you know it wouldn't be higher if there were more firearms? Too many variables.
- aksss 4y ago
  The US has only very recently started to eclipse other developed nations in suicide rate, and you can probably point to twenty years of war and the 2008 financial collapse as having a significant role to play in this. Maybe social media too. But gun ownership (access to firearms) is not in any way correlated with high per capita suicide rates. For many decades you might have been able to show inverse correlation. If people want to suicide, they'll suicide.
- Dracophoenix 4y ago
  Every other suicide method has a higher chance of rendering an individual comatose, disabled, or permanently disfigured. The side effects of a failed first attempt would be an incentive for the pursuit of a successful second. > Seems like a buyback could reduce the opportunity for deaths and injuries due to suicide attempts. Attempting to reduce deaths will only increase permanent injuries. That will certainly be a burden on the medical system which comes as an added expense on the willfully living. If people want to kill themselves in the least painful and most effective way they can afford, they shouldn't be prevented. It's tortuous to deny a person the right to dispose of his own life as he sees fit by means of his own property.
helsinkiandrew 4y ago
Reducing the access to means of suicide greatly reduces the number of suicides. Many suicides are the result of a short term crisis or encouraged by having an easy means todo it. So getting rid of the unused gun in the attic for a few hundred or thousand dollars may well be a simple and cheap technique to reduce suicides.
- ipaddr 4y ago
  Rates of suicide are higher in places without guns.
  - helsinkiandrew 4y ago
    I didn’t say the opposite. But reducing the means reduces the numbers of suicides. https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/means-matter/ https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/means-matter/

core-utility 4y ago

For anyone curious, 40% of 45,222 is 18,089

kube-system 4y ago

Mental health treatment is of course the best way to prevent suicides, but when people are in a suicidal mental state, they're a lot better off if they don't have grandpa's heirloom shotgun lying around.

wyldfire 4y ago

> In the US, 60% of firearm deaths are from suicide. How many suicide deaths would happen with fewer firearms available? I suspect a large portion of the suicide victims may not even be the owner/purchaser of the firearm used. Among all the methods, suicide by firearm is awful because it's so effective. Without an available firearm, attempting suicide by another method might be something that could be recoverable with some intervention after the attempt. Seems like a buyback could reduce the opportunity for deaths and injuries due to suicide attempts.

agensaequivocum 4y ago
South Korea has a much higher suicide rate and virtually no firearms.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- ihattendorf 4y ago
  That's irrelevant. How do you know it wouldn't be higher if there were more firearms? Too many variables.
aksss 4y ago
The US has only very recently started to eclipse other developed nations in suicide rate, and you can probably point to twenty years of war and the 2008 financial collapse as having a significant role to play in this. Maybe social media too. But gun ownership (access to firearms) is not in any way correlated with high per capita suicide rates. For many decades you might have been able to show inverse correlation. If people want to suicide, they'll suicide.
Dracophoenix 4y ago
Every other suicide method has a higher chance of rendering an individual comatose, disabled, or permanently disfigured. The side effects of a failed first attempt would be an incentive for the pursuit of a successful second. > Seems like a buyback could reduce the opportunity for deaths and injuries due to suicide attempts. Attempting to reduce deaths will only increase permanent injuries. That will certainly be a burden on the medical system which comes as an added expense on the willfully living. If people want to kill themselves in the least painful and most effective way they can afford, they shouldn't be prevented. It's tortuous to deny a person the right to dispose of his own life as he sees fit by means of his own property.

helsinkiandrew 4y ago

Reducing the access to means of suicide greatly reduces the number of suicides. Many suicides are the result of a short term crisis or encouraged by having an easy means todo it. So getting rid of the unused gun in the attic for a few hundred or thousand dollars may well be a simple and cheap technique to reduce suicides.

ipaddr 4y ago
Rates of suicide are higher in places without guns.
- helsinkiandrew 4y ago
  I didn’t say the opposite. But reducing the means reduces the numbers of suicides. https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/means-matter/ https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/means-matter/